This level boosts an amazing amount of parallax layers, and the effect is amazing!

Jump from one missile to the next, Contra III style!

Review-Advance Guardian Heroes (AGH) is a hard game to judge, especially because fans of the original SS game were expecting a lot. If you look at it as being the sequel of the highly regarded Saturn game, than chances are you'll be disappointed.

The initial character roster to choose from isn't particularly exciting while graphically, it tends to be uneven. Sprites tend to be smaller, backgrounds aren't always very detailed while enemies could be more varied. All this is true if you compare AGH to the prequel. But take a fresh look at the game pretending it's unrelated to Guardian Heroes and what you get is a pleasant side-scrolling fighting game, with nice graphics and cool music.

The GBA hardware is used to perform all kinds of neat tricks such as scaling backdrops and enemies for instance. Also, the SCI-FI setting is actually pretty good while the music is definitely inspired.

Gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag in the sense that handling is a bit shaky, but luckily this can be overcome by learning to use the shield (R button) both for defense and for countering enemies attacks.

In the end, AGH is one of the better action games on the GBA. It's not on the same level of the original Guardian Heroes, but it still represents a good option for gamers on the move!

Bottom line: a nice little action game which doesn't manage to reach the same level of the prequel...7/10